


we built this city

by mehlpomene



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, also a lot of iris introspection bc i love my girl, happy fun time near-death experiences!!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 15:50:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10030193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mehlpomene/pseuds/mehlpomene
Summary: Protecting Barry Allen isn't like an old habit you outgrow, even after he gains superpowers and abs and should probably be protecting himself by now.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i'm still in shambles after tonight's episode, and apparently it drove me to writing my first fic for this fandom, unedited and written at 11pm on far too little sleep. i hope y'all like it and more importantly, i hope y'all hit me up @ wehstallens on tumblr so that we can cry and fancast the tornado twins together !!
> 
> title from that one song. you know the one. idk man it seemed relevant i'm going to sleep goodNIGHT

It's a chilly day in Central City, but Iris West isn't one to let a little thing like a drop in the temperature keep her down. She tugs her blanket scarf tighter around her as she leaves Jitters, balancing her coffee in one hand and hoping to God it's not about to ruin her favourite white pants. Again.

At least now she knows to buy duplicates.

She and Barry had already made plans to grab lunch together, so she lets her feet take her down the familiar path to the CCPD, sipping her coffee and just admiring her city. It's a weird place nowadays, sure, but not that much weirder than anywhere else, she guesses. Even with every bad experience she's had on these streets, Central is home. It'll always be home, littered with all those little memories that make a city more than just the place you live.

Like there's the park where her dad had slid those boxing gloves on her hands the first time. 

The restaurant Barry had taken her to for their first official date.

She turns so she's walking backward down the sidewalk, smiling shyly at what she can see of the shape Jitters' rooftop cuts against the grey clouds. The coffee shop where she found out she had a guardian angel.

"Iris! Hey!"

She spins back around to face Barry across the crosswalk, his bag slung lazily over his shoulder, his face open like the sun coming out. Even in this weather, Iris can feel the warmth coming off his smile down to her toes. She hopes she never forgets what it feels like to be loved by Barry Allen. 

Iris is just about to respond in kind, maybe tease him about being so eager he couldn't even wait for her to pick him up, but before she can, something shifts sickly at the edge of her vision. She snaps her head to the source, sees the car veering too quickly around the corner. She's safe enough, far away from the curb as she is, but Barry Allen is about to step into the street and -

When the red fades from her vision, Iris is sprawled on her back. Her right wrist feels tender to the touch -  _great,_ Scott's gonna _love_ that - probably because she landed on it. A to-go coffee cup rolls on its side, her beautiful Americano leaking onto the street and forming the puddle she's laying in. She sighs heavily. Her white pants are ruined. Again.

At this point, she should probably just accept that white pants are not in God's plan for her life.

Still, she forces herself into a sitting position, biting down the pain that lances through her palms when she presses them against the asphalt. "Barry?" she calls, not bothering to hide the tinge of fear that creeps into her tone.

"Here, I'm over here," the answer comes from behind her, winded and probably bruised but breathing and Iris nearly deflates with relief. 

* * *

Later, after Iris has cleaned their cuts with the handy first-aid kit Caitlin snuck into her purse at some point, the pair sit in a cozy sandwich shop that is quickly becoming the most affordable place between their workplaces for lunch dates. Iris bites into her roast beef sub, glancing up to see Barry watching her thoughtfully.

"What?" she mumbles, mouth full of bread and meat. Barry snickers at the picture she makes for five full seconds before he responds.

"You, uh, you know I'm a superhero, right?"

Iris blinks and chews, washing down her bite with a sip of lemonade. "Yeah... ? It's actually factored into our lives quite a bit recently." She smiles at him quizzically. "Kind of hard to ignore."

"Right, right," he agrees, nodding down at his own grilled cheese. "So now can we talk about why you dived in front of a car to try and save me?"

As casually as she can, Iris dips her head to take a massive bite of roast beef, chewing slowly. The longer this takes, the more time before she has to attempt an answer to that. Barry's raised eyebrow tells her he is not impressed with her methods of avoidance.

"Iris," he says. He reaches across the table to curl both big hands around her right one. She winces when his fingers press against her wrist, and he makes an apologetic noise. "I'm a meta. I could've gotten both of us out of there, you didn't have to tackle me." His gaze is fond as he looks down at her chewing meekly, and Iris hurries to swallow.

"I just-" she pauses, looks at him, really  _looks_ at him. His hair is a little worse for the wear after their ordeal, but still fairly coiffed; the fingers curled around hers are long and their nails clean. Freckles dot the planes of his face and neck, and suddenly, Iris is overcome with a sudden rush of affection for this boy with whom she's seen through some of her darkest periods. His long eyelashes quiver, and Iris remembers nights spent huddled together under blankets, far away from the thunder and lightning cracking outside his window. She sees kid bullies with insults and fists, and adult bullies with lab coats and diagnoses, and years of being a one-girl army for this boy.

"Sometimes I see you without the suit on, and I just forget what you're capable of," she finally manages, teardrops in the corners of her eyes. "I forget about The Flash, and it's just you and me, and something trying to hurt you."

Barry lifts one hand from the table, dabbing at her tears with his thumb carefully. Belatedly, she realizes he's trying to save her eyeliner. "You don't have to do that," he says, hushed, reverent. "I can take care of myself now."

Iris shakes her head, a watery smile flickering across her lips. "That doesn't matter. If there's something coming towards you, Barry Allen, I'm always going to want to throw myself in its path, and sometimes, I'll really do it." She catches his hand in her, presses it to her face, nuzzles it. Revels in the familiarity of something as simple as this boy's hands. "You're stuck with me," she promises and in return, he leans over the white-washed wood surface, tilting her chin up to catch her mouth in a sweet kiss that tastes vaguely salty.

"Wouldn't have it any other way. Love you," and Iris smiles into him, warm and sunny like a new day.

Central is her home, but he's the one who made it so. Every piece of them and their story is folded into the creases of this city. Leaving Central would be like leaving Barry, and Iris doesn't think she'll ever know how to quit either of them.

"If you're gonna start saving superheroes now, though, we should probably get you a suit."

"Fine by me. I look badass in leather."

 


End file.
